Not a problem... also - Ed wrote a lot of articles for Polyhedron that described different locations. At least a handful of those were Harper related locations. Good luck hunting them down though these days.

Ed wrote a lot of articles for Polyhedron that described different locations. At least a handful of those were Harper related locations. Good luck hunting them down though these days.

I was so happy when I got my collection. Still missing a couple though - they're tricky to track!

Only reason I subscribed to Polyhedron all those years ago.

I did check with Ed a while back re whether there were any unpublished Everwinking Eye columns on the Border Kingdoms as that magazine went defunct, and he told me there weren't. He did say that at least two columns were lost by Roger Moore somewhere along the way. I picked one (which Ed confirmed) as being in the Mulmaster stream.

So much great lore misplaced over the years. Wish I'd been at TSR when WotC took over, I would have been the proverbial FR magpie.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus

I did check with Ed a while back re whether there were any unpublished Everwinking Eye columns on the Border Kingdoms as that magazine went defunct, and he told me there weren't. He did say that at least two columns were lost by Roger Moore somewhere along the way. I picked one (which Ed confirmed) as being in the Mulmaster stream.

Did any new locations get covered on the website and in the Shining South book? Or was the material in covered in those just updates from the Polyhedron articles? I never bothered to do a side-by-side comparison.

The fact that neither the website and the Polyhedron articles were never able to finish the full span of the Border Kingdoms is a travesty. It still remains one of the most enigmatic areas of Faerun.

The fact that neither the website and the Polyhedron articles were never able to finish the full span of the Border Kingdoms is a travesty. It still remains one of the most enigmatic areas of Faerun.

In day-by-day status, or some starting point and VCS style diffs? Because the nature of the subject is kind of resistant to definitive coverage:"It's been said there are no accurate maps of the Border Kingoms, where boundaries, rulers, and names of realms change from tenday to tenday, and border disputes seem to occupy the lives of many on a more-or-less daily basis. Maps will be sadly out of date at best, and full of willful distortions at the worst (many cartographers seek to suggest the realm they represent--or want their local ruler to trade with--is larger and more important than it really is). Misinformation is the rule when Borderers travel the Realms in search of adventurers to hire. So beware: on any map of the Border Kingdoms, boundaries are at best approximate, and between the making of the map and your journey, realms will probably have appeared, disappeared, or moved."- The Border Kingdoms: Introduction

People never wonder How the world goes round -HelloweenAnd even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.WoodIt's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch

Did any new locations get covered on the website and in the Shining South book? Or was the material in covered in those just updates from the Polyhedron articles? I never bothered to do a side-by-side comparison.

The fact that neither the website and the Polyhedron articles were never able to finish the full span of the Border Kingdoms is a travesty. It still remains one of the most enigmatic areas of Faerun.

The Polyhedron column got to Owlhold. The web column got to High Mukshar. Shining South had no useful information on the Border Kingdoms (and misspelled "Qurth" Forest). The book you are after is actually Power of Faerūn, which goes on from the Polyhedron articles to detail the aforementioned Qurth Forest, the Realm of the Mount, and the Realm of the Ready Sword.

Lots and lots of the Border Kingdoms still missing, including major settlements like Yallasch, Theymarsh and Thur as well as interesting little kingdoms such as Shandolphyn's Reach, Suldamma, the Swordpoint Streams, and the Realm of the Smoking Star. There are also a host of towns and villages Ed never got to either.

Good fodder for a DMs Guild piece I reckon ...

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus

The Polyhedron column got to Owlhold. The web column got to High Mukshar. Shining South had no useful information on the Border Kingdoms (and misspelled "Qurth" Forest). The book you are after is actually Power of Faerūn, which goes on from the Polyhedron articles to detail the aforementioned Qurth Forest, the Realm of the Mount, and the Realm of the Ready Sword.

Lots and lots of the Border Kingdoms still missing, including major settlements like Yallasch, Theymarsh and Thur as well as interesting little kingdoms such as Shandolphyn's Reach, Suldamma, the Swordpoint Streams, and the Realm of the Smoking Star. There are also a host of towns and villages Ed never got to either.

Good fodder for a DMs Guild piece I reckon ...

-- George Krashos

My bad on forgetting the correct book. Yea, some enterprising designer would finish it up, but would WotC allow it to publish at DM's Guild if they are still holding back unpublished material because it was intended for prior editions? Not to mention it could run into NDAs.

Swordpoint Streams sounds suspiciously like a location that became known for a famous duel, and remained a dueling site since.

The Polyhedron column got to Owlhold. The web column got to High Mukshar. Shining South had no useful information on the Border Kingdoms (and misspelled "Qurth" Forest). The book you are after is actually Power of Faerūn, which goes on from the Polyhedron articles to detail the aforementioned Qurth Forest, the Realm of the Mount, and the Realm of the Ready Sword.

Lots and lots of the Border Kingdoms still missing, including major settlements like Yallasch, Theymarsh and Thur as well as interesting little kingdoms such as Shandolphyn's Reach, Suldamma, the Swordpoint Streams, and the Realm of the Smoking Star. There are also a host of towns and villages Ed never got to either.

Good fodder for a DMs Guild piece I reckon ...

-- George Krashos

My bad on forgetting the correct book. Yea, some enterprising designer would finish it up, but would WotC allow it to publish at DM's Guild if they are still holding back unpublished material because it was intended for prior editions? Not to mention it could run into NDAs.

Swordpoint Streams sounds suspiciously like a location that became known for a famous duel, and remained a dueling site since.

I don't see any issue with publishing more Border Kingdoms stuff through the DM's Guild, provided that what was put up there wasn't material WotC had paid for.

So if WotC sat on an article for Hoosbania and never published it, it's still theirs and it would not be kosher to do that on the DM's Guild. If an article on Hoosbania was written by someone else, that's another story... Or if Wordsburg was never written up for them, then it would also be safe to run.

In Elminster's Forgotten Realms, there's a copy of a page of the player packets given out in your campaigns, detailing current clack. Apologies if this has been asked before, but could either of you share what kinds of other tidbits are included in the packets? I loved the current clack page, and am looking to design packets of my own!

Hello again, all.KanzenAU, Ed traditionally gave each player in one of his "library" campaigns a player pack consisting of this:A crude "here's what your character knows" map of the starting country or city.A crude "here's what your character knows" map of the wider Realms.Here are the shrines, temples, and local priests your character knows and frequents, and any daily prayers, do's and don'ts, faith-related gossip/recent local events.A list of contacts (businesses/crafters/gossips) your character knows and uses.Notes on your character's "day jobs" and past/current employers and acquired skills.Local individuals/families your character likes, hates, is feuding with, owes coin to, is owed coin by, plus outstanding promises/obligations.Some heraldry/local message-symbols your character will recognize, plus what your character "knows" of local government/who rules/the daily "laws" (and who are the local "lawkeepers"/enforcers).Where your character would go if hurt.What wealth or valuables (if anything) your character has stored (and if hidden or in someone else's safekeeping, where and how).A short list of useful character belongings (horse? Cart? tent? rented field? tools? whetstone? outdoor cook-oven?) and rights to use communal things (like ovens, wells, paddocks).Anything unusual your character has (disguises? toys and puppets? dug-up relics of unknown heritage/uses?).Family trees, of character and relatives and neighbours.

...There, that's about it. I may have forgotten some things. The idea was, after a player had enjoyed their first play session (which Ed tried to end on a cliffhanger), they had reading for home that gave them all sorts of ideas for when the party escaped froxxx ahem, finished that first adventure. ;}love,THO

How cool would it have been to see a list of Pregens for FRQ1 Module laid out in that "player pack" style?? Especially for a lightly detailed area, like say Espar?? Two more logs for the DM's Guild fire I say!! Please pass along those requests to Ed, thanks THO.

And what's a post from me without an Eveningstar query?? How did Redhand Pool get its name?

I'm currently reading Death Masks, and am enjoying it an incredible amount. The only trouble is there's so much lore packed in there I find myself incapable of not taking notes instead of merely enjoying the grand tale! (Not a complaint, mind you: loving every bit of it).

My question comes from the book: without getting spoilery, a certain Harper at one point makes a lewd gesture, described as "one of the lewder hand-gestures currently in vogue in the streets, taverns, and clubs of Waterdeep."

Being both a big fan of Waterdeep and a big fan of lewd gestures, I was wondering if you could elaborate on what such gestures might look like?

Rivenhelm, I recall that Redhand Pool is named for a local adventurer whose surname was Redhand (he's dead, and wasn't particularly successful/widely known outside the area, but the Redhand family is still a farming family in the dale; he fought and killed a monster or monsters by night on the shore of that pool [a troll? trolls? can't be sure; will ask Ed).

KanzenAU: that lewd gesture is made with one free hand: fingers together, point horizontal, make a circle in the air with all of them, and then "thrust through the circle" by jabbing the hand forward through the same space in the air. To make it more emphatic/rude: do the same movements, but point straight up, towards the sky.

TBeholder: nothing Ed can share YET. Meaning, he still has something in the works. You may not see it for a while, but your puppy dog eyes are duly noted...

Thank you THO!! Hmm trolls eh? Trolls seem to be a recurring theme in the area. That and Cavern of the Claws nearby. In a short story I penned many years ago about the Halls I had trolls infesting the area. It must have been an unconscious thing on my part.

Hi again, all!Sorry for these long silences; real life is repeatedly getting firmly in the way.However, I'm here now long enough to make some lore replies:

Marco Volo, while the Zhents don't advertise their trade roads (which are intended to be shorter, cheaper routes than competitors, so the Zhents can either undercut rivals or realize more profits than rivals when selling at the same price), they don't hide them. They just don't (usually) ask permission from any local authorities/rulers (preferring assassination or bribery for persuasion when necessary), and they DO patrol and guard their routes, so only they (and approved-by-them others) can use said routes. And they create them by guile, work, and brute force; it's not about not getting noticed, it's about "might makes mine, do you REALLY want to tangle with me? I'll make it very much not worth your while...";}

Barastir and Rivenhelm, Ed tells me that yes, it was 3 trolls slain by Raladar Redhand, and the two Redhand families are related, but VERY distantly and most living members today don't even know of the connection...only the Heralds do, with their careful genealogy-keeping (and then only because there are barons involved). ;}

Rivenhelm, trolls have "always" been, and remain, a persistent problem in that part of the Stonelands, because it is VERY hard to "scour them out," given the terrain. So the Stonelands remain dangerous...

And that's it, from Ed to me to you, for now! Happy Realms, everyone ...and for an alternative, check out Stormtalons at OnderLibrum.com (Ed's OTHER big-tapestry fantasy setting!).